The qualities that constitute success are many, but for a performer like Cynthia Gibb it was a combination of ability, training and perseverance. Now, with her own teaching studio in Westport, the 49-year-old former Golden Globe nominee has set out to train students in the art of performance, while also transferring the wisdom of her unique experiences on the professional stage.

"I started working professionally at 14," said Gibb, who's enjoyed a long career singing and acting. Her credits include a starring role on the original TV series "Fame," small film roles including Woody Allen's "Stardust Memories" and leading roles in made-for-television movies such as "The Karen Carpenter Story" and "Gypsy," the latter of which earned her a Golden Globe nomination for best supporting actress.

Having grown up in Westport from the age of 3, Gibb has returned to town to share her artistic skills and the fortitude of her career journey, through her studio--The Studio for Singers, Actors and Video.

"I got pretty much thrown into the professional world," she said. "When I'm working with young students now who kind of do have their eyes on the prize ... I not only have the training to teach them, but I have a lot of life lessons, which I had to learn the hard way."

Depending on their aspirations, Gibb's students--both children and adults--learn the Bel-Canto technique for voice training, along with site reading, acting, auditioning skills, and more.

"You can be the greatest actor in the world or the greatest singer, but if you can't audition, you're not going to book and make this a career," she said.

"I'll tell students about every single thing that can happen in that room ... and how they just have to continue to rely on their technique as their foundation to get through those really uncomfortable interchanges that exist in the auditioning arena, so they don't get derailed by nerves."

Yet while she imparts the difficulties of the professional domain, Gibb also emphasizes a supportive, encouraging nature with her students.

"It's a very positive environment," said Nicole Sherwood of Easton, who attributes her recent early acceptance to Syracuse University for theater, to Gibb. "She never tells you that you did anything wrong. She just says, `Let's try something different.' " "To be a performing artist ... you have to allow yourself to be vulnerable, otherwise your performance isn't worth anything," Gibb said. "You have to be emotionally connected to the material ... and just by virtue of being that vulnerable, it's a really scary endeavor." Gibb is also stringent about not having students do anything they may not be emotionally or physically ready for.

"She is so aware of what you need to do," said Don Werner of Westport, one of her adult students.

He said the lessons are "an exploration of something I've wanted to do for a very long time, but didn't have the time or the venue or the person to do it with." Now he sees his dreams coming true after giving his first public performances, with more in his future, thanks to Gibb.

"Over this year I've realized that Cynthia walks on water, and parts it," he said.

"I have several adults who just love to make music," Gibb said. "They're doing this for their soul, and I get that, because I just love making music." "It shouldn't be about the end result," she said. "There has to be something you get out of it other than the prize."